Afghanistan's government on Saturday offered the equivalent of $40,000 in return for information on Taliban militants who have infiltrated the capital Kabul, the Interior Ministry said.Scores of people in the capital have been killed in five suicide car bomb attacks in the past two months as the Taliban intensify their insurgency amid a political crisis following presidential elections on August 20.
"People who provide information leading to the arrest of these people will be awarded two millions afghanis ($40,000) by the Interior Ministry," it said in a statement.
"It is the responsibility of every patriotic Afghan" to inform police if they suspect insurgents are living or operating in their neighbourhoods, it said.
In the most recent attack, the Taliban claimed responsibility for a massive suicide car bomb at the Indian embassy, the second attack on the building in just over a year, killing at least 17 people and injuring more than 60.
Taliban activity has accelerated in recent months as foreign and Afghan troops step up anti-insurgency efforts, mainly in the south.
The United States and NATO have more than 100,000 troops in Afghanistan, but President Barack Obama is considering a request for tens of thousands more, as troop deaths rise alarmingly -- to more than 400 so far this year.
The government's reward offer hints at the spreading presence of the insurgents inside the capital, which is heavily fortified and yet as the recent attacks show, increasingly vulnerable to attack.